Chapter 2
Once Mrs. Mcgonagall left the house, it lulled into silence before Effie clapped her hands and said, " Alright then, I'm gonna start on dinner soon and I'll call you boys down soon." she paused before adding, " Jamie why don't you help me for a bit so Sirius can get settled in."
Sirius shly smiled when he caught Effie's eye and then went upstairs to where James said his room was. He observed it in awe as he saw the big bed that was all his. He grabbed the trash bag filled with his things that lay on the floor and dug around until he found the picture of him and Reggie smiling while sitting underneath a fort in Sirius's room at Grimmauld Place.
He then dropped the trash bag filled with his clothes in a corner of his room thinking about how sad he would be when the Potters decided they didn't want him anymore. He then kicked off his busted sneakers at the end of his bed before crawling up it and curling in a ball on his side. He felt such a deep sorrow and ache for Regulus and the suffering he must be going through while Sirius was sitting on a bed that was so comfortable he could cry.
He lay there and remembered the memory from the photo that now sat on his nightstand. He and Reggie had decided to build a fort in Sirius's room one night after dinner had finished and they knew their mother or father wouldn't be checking up on them anytime soon. They had dragged pillows and comforters onto the floor, played games that he had learned from his friends at school, and told ghost stories that both of them had pretended not to be scared by.
It was one of Sirius's fondest memories of him and his brother. That was until they had both carelessly fallen asleep and their mother walked in the next morning and caught them. It was a terrible punishment that ended up with him and Reggie being beaten so badly that they were resigned to their beds for the entirety of a week.
Sirius's thoughts were interrupted when someone knocked on his door. He slowly swung his feet over the side of the bed and walked to open the door coming face to face with James who informed him that dinner was ready.
They both made their way downstairs where everyone took their places at the dining table and began to eat the meal that Mrs. Potter had prepared. She had made a chicken and rice dish that Sirius adored as soon as he started eating it.
His thoughts once again drifted to his younger brother who he hoped was getting a meal just as good as this one but Sirius knew he wasn't. A sadness burrowed and lodged itself right in the middle of my stomach. He felt entirely guilty for enjoying the food when his brother probably wasn't even getting anything.
He remembered the feeling of hunger all too well and he felt his throat closing and his eyes starting to fill with unshed tears but silently shook them away and continued eating. He didn't want to appear rude or ungrateful to the Potters who had been so kind to him.
He slowly tuned back into the chatter that was happening around the table. Apparently, James played football at his high school and his parents were asking about how his last practice had gone. Effie turned her attention to Sirius, " Dear did you do any sports at your old school?" she inquired.
Sirius felt a blush rise on his cheeks but shook his head and said, " No I wasn't allowed to do any sports." He watched as Effie furrowed her eyebrows but said nothing. James on the other hand went, " Wait what do you mean? Why couldn't you play sports?"
Sirius opened his mouth to respond but Monty cut in and told James, " Jamie, Sirius doesn't have to share anything he doesn't want to." Giving Sirius a pointed look that he ignored and responded, " I don't mind, I couldn't play any sports because my old foster home didn't let me."
James made an O shape with his mouth and nodded before saying, " Oh alright mate, well when we go back to school you could try out for one of the teams then!" Sirius nodded seriously considering it.
Sirius was distracted by thinking about trying out for a sport when his elbow connected with his water glass and knocked it to the floor where It shattered.
Sirius felt his heart stop and his head go completely silent. He looked up at Mrs. Potter with tears brimming in his eyes where a few trickled down his cheeks. He started quietly gasping for breath and stuttered out, " I'm sorry I'm so so sorry, I'm really sorry I didn't mean it" Before getting out of his chair and dropping to the floor where he started picking up the pieces of broken glass.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Monty who pulled him up and took the glass out of his hands before pulling him into a tight hug. He spoke softly in Sirius's ear, " Sirius it's alright its just one glass and we could have used the broom to clean it up, shhhh stop crying" He murmured in Sirius's ear before pulling him away from him and inspecting his hands as Sirius kept hiccuping softly.
Effie walked over after cleaning up the remains of glass and rubbed her hand over Sirius's back before hurriedly going to get a first aid kit. He still had tears running down his pale face when Effie returned and began to clean and wrap his hands in bandages. She led him over to the couch where she pulled him to sit next to her and looked at him very seriously before saying, " Sirius in this house you will never be punished physically for a mistake or anything else. I don't believe in hitting children and you will never be expected to put yourself in harm's way or punish yourself for anything. You are safe here. " She said while softly brushing her fingers on his cheeks to wipe away his tears.
He furrowed his brow but nodded anyway. She rubbed his back and pulled him in for a hug before telling him that she would take care of dinner for tonight and instructing him to go get ready for bed because it had been a long day.
As Sirius trudged upstairs he got changed into a long faded David Bowie shirt and a pair of his pajama bottoms before heading to his and James's shared bathroom. He faltered when he noticed James already brushing his teeth but walked in anyway.
He noticed James peek at him but continued brushing his teeth as Sirius started to brush his own. Once both of them had spit out their toothpaste Sirius took a moment to observe James. He was wearing a football team hoodie with flannel pants and pizza-shaped slippers along with his normal mess of hair. Sirius smiled shyly at him embarrassed about what happened at dinner.
James looked at him and showed a small crooked smile but remained solemn. He looked at Sirius sadly and sat down on the rug in the bathroom patting the spot across from him. Sirius warily sat down understandably confused because who has a spontaneous chat on the bathroom floor?
It was James's turn to look shy when he asked, " My parents always tell me I'm too nosy so you don't have to answer but what did you think was gonna happen when you broke the glass?" As James spoke he swirled his fingers on the carpet making shapes.
Sirius looked down at the carpet and also began to draw shapes before saying, " Well if It had been MY mother I probably would have had to clean up all the glass and she probably would have hit me before sending me to bed without dinner for the next couple days. " He shrugged and fell silent.
He looked up to gauge James's reaction and he was staring at Sirius with a pang of sadness before saying, " Bloody hell mate that's brutal I can't imagine..." He trailed off and Sirius looked back down at the carpet. Without warning, James was tackling him in a hug and Sirius started laughing and shoving at James, " Bugger offff" he groaned at James.
James started laughing and hugged Sirius tighter before standing up and offering Sirius a hand. Sirius let James pull him up before following him back into his room where they played games and chatted carelessly, oblivious to the two elder Potters listening from behind the door sharing a smile.
Sirius and James eventually climbed into their own beds. Sirius shared a small smile with himself before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.